Sixth Sunday of Easter

Donna G. Joy

 

“Compassion isn't just about feeling the pain of others; it's about bringing them in toward yourself. If we love what God loves, then, in compassion, margins get erased. 'To be compassionate as God is compassionate,' means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”

This is a quote from Father Gregory ‘Greg’ Joseph Boyle’s book ‘Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.’ Greg Boyle would, I suspect, describe himself as a rather ordinary kind of person. He grew up in Los Angeles in a large family, went to University and after a series of studies became a Jesuit Priest. He began his career as a teacher, then pastor, then a prison chaplain, then founder of an organization known as Homeboy Industries. This is a youth program that assists high-risk youth, former gang members and the recently incarcerated with a variety of free programs designed to help them turn their lives in a more positive direction.

Last Sunday afternoon as I was driving around doing some errands I heard Father Greg interviewed on the CBC radio program ‘Tapestry’. I became so fascinated with what he had to say I pulled over to the side of the road in order to give it my full attention. I discovered that Homeboy Industries has effectively identified the critical issues that lie at the heart of such high-risk individuals, gangs and communities, and developed programs designed to heal and transform such issues into healthy patterns for living. It offers training in anger management, domestic violence, yoga, spiritual development, parenting, substance abuse, budgeting, art and other areas of self-development. In addition, they offer free mental health counseling, tattoo removal, legal services, job development and case development.

These free services are utilized by more than 10,000 community members each year. In addition to all this, Homeboy Industries creates employment opportunities, allowing gang members to wean themselves away from gang involvement. It currently employs between 200-235 high-risk, formerly gang-involved, and recently incarcerated youth.

What I discovered in hearing this interview was the story of a man, Greg Boyle, who sees no one as outside the realm of God’s love and embrace, and is willing to dedicate his life to live out this sacred call. What I heard was a man, a disciple, who takes discipleship seriously; who deploys Jesus’ love in the world in ways that offer deep and authentic transformation and healing. I heard the story of a man who champions an organization that effectively dismantles the barriers that have excluded thousands of people from mainstream society.

“…To be compassionate as God is compassionate, means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”

It was this that was primarily on my mind two days later, as I began throwing myself into the readings to begin my sermon preparation for today. Each of the readings speaks of a God that leaves no one out; a God that excludes no one. I found myself focusing most specifically on the reading from Acts, where Paul and his companions receive a vision from God offering them a sense of where they are being called to go. And, together they immediately respond to this vision which takes them beyond their boundaries into ministry in a place, and with a people, they had not considered before, a people that , up until that time , had not been included in their ministry and embrace.

Indeed, they immediately respond by sailing toward Philippi, the place to which they’re called. Just as a bit of an aside, it is interesting to note that they do not stop to spend time at the breathtakingly beautiful seaside town of Neapolis, but, instead, head directly towards Philippi, “…a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman Colony.” In other words, there seems to be a sense of urgency . . . they are called by God to get to this place and they go immediately with no unnecessary stops on the way. Most importantly - the main point comes at the end of the sentence – they go to “…a Roman colony.” This was the very place where the empire was powerful and popular. This was the heart of the Empire’s project in this corner of the world, a place that lived like an extended section of Rome itself.

Recognizing this important context sheds huge light on the magnitude of what’s going on here: Paul, as soon as he experiences this vision joins together with the others and travels there, with no unnecessary stops along the way, in order to place himself and his companions in the midst of enemy territory.

“…To be compassionate as God is compassionate, means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”

Prior to this particular passage Paul and his companions had been wandering around unsuccessfully, not knowing where God was calling them to go, but here there is no hesitation and no meandering. It is straight to Philippi, straight to enemy territory. In the midst of this community that wields such heavy handed, unjust systems of power, Paul and his companions are planted in order to offer a different way of life, a different story, and a different promise. This is what the church is still called to be and do: to offer an alternative reality in the face of different systems of power and oppression. 

Though the team apparently wastes no time in getting to the city, we are given the impression that the mission still requires patience. We are told that they were there for a number of days before it became clear why exactly they were there. But when, at last, their mandate becomes clear, it comes as a bit of a surprise.

Paul’s vision had involved a Macedonian man, but the first to welcome their presence and their message is a woman, and in fact a woman from the area that they had just left in the east. This woman is from the very place that had previously been forbidden Paul to go, but in this now grace-filled moment she – with God’s help – is open to Paul’s message and she listens and she hears. She is baptized, and her household with her and seemingly immediately following this she invites Paul and his companions to come and be guests in her home, and she insists that they stay. Note that her immediate response is to serve. 

“… To be compassionate as God is compassionate, means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”

So, Paul receives and responds to a vision from God, goes with his companions directly to the place that God is calling them into – a place in enemy territory where he and they would have never otherwise been, shares the gospel message where it is heard and acted upon.

Our Psalm this morning begins with a blessing: May God be gracious to us and bless us; may He show us favour, that Your way be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations – In and through Jesus, God’s love is made known throughout all the earth. In Jesus and through Jesus there are to be no more barriers that exclude.

“…To be compassionate as God is compassionate, means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”

Greg Boyle recognized God calling him into a place that he could not have anticipated going, a place with seriously high risk offenders and, most prominently, gang members. And he has continued to answer that call with the same kind of focus that Paul and his companions had as they set sail toward enemy territory. Greg Boyle and his working team have been channels through which Jesus’ love and compassion has turned around the lives of countless offenders – people who continue to discover new life in ways they never imagined possible. In referring to those people with whom he works tirelessly to help them discover healing and healthier ways of living, he writes, “Their place was to be outside of communion - forever. Maybe we call this the opposite of God.”

We, as the Parish of St. Peter, may not be called into this particular ministry, and we as individuals may not, but each of us is absolutely called to listen attentively to discover and discern what and where God is calling us into. This is the deployment part of discipleship (discover/develop/deploy). 

At the moment, St. Peter’s is faithfully involved in various forms of mission and outreach ministries, in deploying God’s love in the world in a number of important ways. Over time, we will be called to expand this work into places that we may not yet even know or imagine. We need to be open to the possibility of being called into surprising places and responding as did Paul and his companions. But the real bottom line here is that if every disciple the world over was to deploy Jesus’ love in the world with such in-depth fervor there would be no suffering in the world.

I think each of our readings this morning culminate in our Gospel, in which a man who is described as ‘crippled’ is waiting to be picked up and placed into a pool that people go to for healing. It is said that when the waters bubble up the first person to get placed into the disturbed waters receives miraculous healing. But this man, as the story is told, has been waiting there for 38 years, sadly, to no avail. Jesus sees him, and somehow knows how long he has been there, so asks him, “Do you want to get well?”

The man’s response is really quite pathetic, as he actually offers an excuse as to why he hasn’t made it into the healing waters after waiting for so long. He says, in effect “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and even if I get close someone else always steps into the pool ahead of me.” (It comes through as a somewhat whiney, poor me response.)

Jesus’ response, although effective, sounds a little curt to me as he says, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” (Subtext: “Or, do you want to sit there and wallow in your lack of success?”) The story ends with the affirmation that the man recovered instantly; he took up his mat, and began to walk. The piece at the end of this story which identifies the day as a ‘Sabbath Day’ simply identifies the issue of Jesus’ conflict with the authorities about his authority over all of life.” Because, at the very core of this story, it speaks of Jesus’ authority. A man, after waiting 38 years to receive healing in one place, discovers in an instant from Jesus what he was not able to experience elsewhere.

I am suggesting this morning that we find the man in this story somewhere within ourselves. We all know what it is to be broken and lost and longing to discover God’s true expectations of us. And in this story Jesus asks us, “Do you really want to be healed of your brokenness and uncertainty?” (Or do you want to remain in the darkness . . . that is, to continue to search for wholeness elsewhere?”) Like the man in this story, we can come up with a myriad of excuses, or we can simply accept his words, “Stand up. Take whatever baggage you may have, and walk. Serve me in the ministries to which you are called.”

Paul, in this morning’s story from the Book of Acts when he received a vision telling him and the others where they needed to go, could have easily said, “I can’t. We can’t. We can’t find a boat, or we have no one to help us get the boat into the water. There are so many boats out there we can’t find room for ours. The water is too rough.” But instead, they just – immediately – dropped whatever it was they were doing and moved forward with what they were called on to do.

Greg Boyle, could easily have responded to Jesus’ call with excuses. But he didn’t and he doesn’t. He and those with whom he works continue to be channels through which Jesus’ healing and transformation is made known to those who would otherwise be considered unworthy. 

“…To be compassionate as God is compassionate, means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”

As we gather in this place to hear God’s Word and receive God’s Food we receive the gift of Jesus’ healing love and touch. This gift is for everyone, no one is excluded, and as receivers of this gift, we are called to go out into the world and embrace others the way Jesus embraces each of us. Again, this may not be the same ministry as that of Greg Boyle, but there is no end to the ways in which we may answer God’s call.

And, finally, as individuals, God comes to us in a vision and sends us into that same ‘Roman colony’. God sends us into those places and into the company of those people we may feel are unworthy of God’s love and embrace. We need to think long and hard about those we have a difficult time loving; those we have a hard time liking; those we find difficult to forgive . . . and then recognize that God is calling us to share Jesus’ love in those challenging places.

“Compassion isn't just about feeling the pain of others; it's about bringing them in toward yourself. If we love what God loves, then, in compassion, margins get erased. 'To be compassionate as God is compassionate,' means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”